I'm only a man with a candle to guide me

[unkinder]

[It wasn't uncommon for Nagi to feel alone. He generally wanted to be. The silence and the darkness was preferred over having to interact with others any day. It was healthier to be in the darkness, now. Light was a weakness now, one that he had to pay close attention to. Because of this, the other monsters rarely ever saw the relatively new stranger in their midst. He didn't know many of them...except for one he ran into very early on who seemed to be used to the changes, and even more used to the killing that went on all around.

For Nagi, killing wasn't unusual. He killed for a living, essentially, but...never was it anything like this. He had been in the strange town for a few months now and already he had felt some changes. His nails had elongated into claws, and keeping his mouth closed was difficult due to how his teeth had grown sharp and pointed. His eyes glowed stark white constantly, regardless of what state he was in. But the one thing that was natural in this strange new form was his tendency to live in the shadows...and so he continued to do.

But he couldn't go without eating forever. His appetite appeared very suddenly one day, along with the shadowy tendrils that suddenly burst from his back without warning, beyond his control as he crouched on his knees near the back of a collapsing building, digging his claws into the grass. He struggled to keep his voice muffled as grunts of pain escaped him, his eyes flashing and his body seeming to flicker in and out of existence into the shadow of the building. He couldn't remember how or when he ran across that poor individual who had happened to be outside at the wrong place and time.

His body, rugged and shadowy with long claws reaching and white eyes still flashing crouched over the person, leaning in so close he could see their breath fogging into the air before him. Faster than a snake's strike his body moved on its own accord, reaching out and into the person's chest, heedless to their frantic thrashing. When he pulled free they went unnaturally still, limbs rigid as he drew the energy to himself while still hunched over the body, partially still doubled over with the agony of the tendrils ripping from his back.

Somehow, he had never felt more alone.]

Comments

[scratchitti]

[Neku's sense were keen. Not just for hunting, but for scavanging as well. He admitted to stealing a kill or two in his time in Ryslig, though only when he was starving. Mostly they heped him find recently dead of non-monster causes.

That was his thought when he smelled what he thought was a body. Or at least someone who's vitals were very low- someone on death's door. His shadow flew over head and he dove landing on a overhang. Even in his night vision Nagi seemed just like a shadow, his scent mostly gone from the transformation into something meat-less. Neku honestly had no idea he was there.]

[unkinder]

[The only thing that might betray Nagi's presence would be the way the shadow cast over the body is shifting and undulating, two pinpricks of light peering from within the shape as it moves. As he devours the person's soul his body grows, the tendrils lengthening along his back and arms before moving forward to rest against the body, one of two curling around the arms and legs as he feeds.

When Neku suddenly lands he starts, his shadowy form like static as he ducks closer to the long shadow cast by the building itself. He remains close to the body, however, just until he can finish removing all of the energy from it. What can be made out is a creature of darkness, staring up at Neku with no expression at all, yet crouched protectively over the body at the same time.]

[scratchitti]

[Ah, he made a mistake- this wasn't loose food, but someone actively hunting. He had met a shade yet, but he had heard of them. His fur bristles, but he makes more aggressive moves]

Hey, I'm not planning on starting anything.

[unkinder]

[The shade doesn't seem convinced, if his body language is anything to go by...whatever bits of it that Neku can pick out, anyway. But the longer he remains near the body the stronger he grows. His appetite starts to wane as well as the soul completely leaves the person's body, leaving them barely alive and in a coma-like state.

Neku seems to have caught him at a better time, though. Had he not been eating, he might have attacked him outright in a frenzy of hunger. It was lucky that this human wandered past when they did. Now that the body is practically lifeless, nothing else remains for Nagi to feed on. He doesn't require meat the same way most other monsters do. Yet, he doesn't move from the body. Strangely he just hovers over it, white eyes staring down at the glassy eyes of the person that are open and unseeing.

He eventually reaches out a long, shadowy hand that phases through the person's chest before he quickly jerks back, finally leaving the near-corpse altogether to retreat into the shadows entirely. But he still stays nearby, watching body the body and Neku quietly.]

[scratchitti]

[Neku approaches the body carefully, sniffing. Still alive, but empty. His mouth waters but he resists the urge to drag the shade's kill off. The monster knows it could get away with it. The human on the other hand has other concerns]

Was that... your first?

[unkinder]

[For a long time Nagi doesn't respond, just staring at Neku from the darkness. Even after devouring the soul he won't be able to remain in this totally shadow-like form forever...but for the time being it seems like he can't speak. He looks slowly back down at the body, no longer interested in being near it.

It's hard to perceive, but after a pause he nods.]

[scratchitti]

It... gets easier.

[He winces, tails lashing. It was shallow comfort, and he can't tell how upset or not the shade is without facial features]

[unkinder]

[Nobody would know that Nagi was used to this. To killing. He wasn't exactly interested in making that part of his life known to strangers. He had seen peoples' bodies twisted beyond repair due to his own anger going out of his control. This person wasn't even dead, not really. This was tame in comparison, if he was being honest with himself.

Another moment passes before the shadowy figure begins to shift, actually disappearing entirely for a moment before Nagi's body starts to reappear as it once was. So much smaller and fragile looking as he kneels in the grass, his eyes still stark white as he watches the husk of the body, expression blank other than the signs of pain from his transformation affecting him. The shadowy tendrils remain, twisting from the ripped shreds of what remains of his shirt.]

...they're still alive.

[scratchitti]

...Nagi?

[He suspected, but couldn't tell for sure before- after all, no features and no scent. Now that he knows who it is though, his nerves calm a bit, and he makes his way over, sitting near by]

Yeah, I guess they are. Sorta.

[unkinder]

[The quiet that follows is stifling, but Nagi doesn't seem bothered. If anything it helps keep his own nerves level as he eyes the body lying in the grass.]

You can have them.

[He finally murmurs, bringing his legs close to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. He doesn't look Neku's way in favor of staring without seeing, his eyes still blank both figuratively and literally, glowing lightly in the darkness.]

[scratchitti]

[HIs ears perk up and he makes his way over to the body and sniffs, opening his mouth-

-then notices Nagi still sitting so quietly. He had to remember his human feelings, not his monstrous hunger.]

...sorry.

[unkinder]

[Nagi doesn't blink, instead tilting his head down a bit closer to his knees.]

Why are you apologizing? It's not like you aren't used to this.

[scratchitti]

That doesn't make it okay!

[unkinder]

Maybe. But there isn't anything you can do about it.

[He replies, his voice oddly cool for someone who just essentially killed another.]